Steam-pipe coupling for railway-cars



(No Model.)

C. E. BENSON. STEAM PIPE COUPLING FOR RAILWAY CARS.

No. 602,821. Patented Apr. 26, 1898.

. wsumm UNITED STATES PATENT Crates.

CHARLES E. BENSON, OF VVLALLINGFORD, CONNECTICUT.

STEAM-PIPE COUPLING FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 602,821, dated April26, 1898.

Application filed March 30, 1897.

T0 aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. BENSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Wallingford, in the county of New Haven and State ofConnecticut, have invented a certain new and useful ImprovementApplicable to the Steam-Pipe Couplings of Railway-Cars, of which thefollowing is a description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing, wherein the figure is a side view of the apparatus embodyingsaid improvement with one of the sphere-boxes and its sphere representedas cut in a vertical section with which the axis of the spherecoincides. This section is longitudinal of the cars to which theapparatus is attached.

The object and purpose of the improvement is denoted by its title, itpractically being a coupling, with its parts attachable to anddetachable from each other, for connecting the steam-pipes nowordinarily carried beneath railway-cars.

In the accompanying drawing the letter a denotes a part of therailway-car, practically a cross-timber at the front end of theplatform, and the letter I) denotes a loop ordinarily carried by such aplatform encircling ordinary car-coupler parts.

The letter 0 denotes what may be termed the sphere-box, practically achambered casting attached by bolts to theloop b. The ordinarysteam-supply pipe lets steam into the chamber of this sphere-box throughthe orifice (Z. The letter e denotes What is practically a metallicsphere of true and regular outline hung in said sphere-box anduniversally rotatablethat is, rotatable in any direction. It is held toits seat by the spherecollar f, which is exteriorly screw-threaded andtakes into a corresponding interior thread carried by the sphere-box.

The letter 9 denotes packing which makes a fluid-tight joint between thesphere and the sphere-box.

The letter h denotes a set-screw for holding the sphere-collar firm andfast in any desired adjustment. The screw takes its bearing upon thesphere-collar through the intermediate soft-metal cushion i, so as notto injure the screw of the thread.

The letter 7.; denotes a tube adapted to have Serial No. 630,016. (Nomodel.)

both reciprocatory and rotary motion in the sphere e.

The letter Z denotes packing which makes a fluid-tight joint betweensaid tube and said sphere, said packing being held to place by thetube-collar m. That tube-collar is held to any desired adjustment by theset-screw n, which bears upon the thread of the tube-collar through theintermediate soft-metal cushion 0.

The letters f denote wrench -sockets by which the sphere-collar may berotated.

The letter m denotes wrench-sockets by which the tube-collar m may berotated.

In order to be able to hold the sphere e and tube is from rotation whileone rotates the tube-collar m, there is a hexagonal or many sided cap p,fixedly attached to the tube in, which will drop into and fit to themortise e in the sphere. As a consequence of this construction a personcan grasp the tube is with a pipe-wrench and hold it and the spherenonrotatable while one rotates the sphere-collar f.

The letter r denotes, as a whole, a checkvalve, which will stay closedwhen there is a normal pressure of steam in the sphere-box; but themoment that pressure is released it will open under the influence of itsspring and permit the water of condensation to escape from thesphere-box.

The tube It is designed to be of a suitable metalbrass, for instance-asfar as the pipecoupling t and of iron or the like below that. It isintended in the summer time, when it is not necessary to use thisapparatus, to detach the lower iron part of the tube and close the stubwith a plug.

Each of the tubes It has a proper chain-support it. Each is equippedwith one of the cooperating joint parts, the construction and operationof which are matters well known in the art. It is necessary in attachingand detaching these joint parts from each other that the tubes is shouldbe capable of various movements, all of which are permissible by meansof the construction of parts hereinbefore described. The joint parts '0and 12' may well be those of the well-known Sewall coupling.

I claim as my improvement- In combination, the sphere box, theunitatableas to each other, all substantially as versally-lrotatablesphere hung in said box described and for the purposes set forth. withfluid-tight joints between the two, the tube adapted to havereciprocation and rota- 5 tion in said sphere with fluid-tight jointsbe- Witnesses:

tween the two, and means adapted for mak- G. A. HARRISON, ing saidsphere and tube temporarily unro- ANNIE M. BENSON.

CHARLES E. BENSON.

